McDonald’s Comes in Dead Last Place in Fast Food Survey

People just aren’t loving it, according to a new survey of customer satisfaction of fast food chains.

Beleaguered McDonald’s has come in dead last in a new survey which measures how satisfied consumers are with fast food restaurants.

And according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Americans’ satisfaction with fast food brands continues to drop as the economy improves and customers are looking for higher-quality dining experiences.

Chick-fil-A topped the list, with the high score ever on the annual survey. Chipotle, considered a “fast casual” restaurant” with higher-quality ingredients and nicer décor, follows next in the study.

Pizza chains, including Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Dominos, saw big losses this year, all declining between 5 and 6 percent each in customer satisfaction. They still faired better in the survey than burger restaurants like Wendy’s, Burger King, and McDonald’s.

Smaller fast casual hamburger chains like Shake Shack, Five Guys and In-N-Out Burger are too small to measure individually, but are successfully drawing customers, according to the report.

Dunkin Donuts was the only fast food chain to make gains this year —increasing 4 percent in popularity, due to a beverage reward program and expansion throughout the country. Starbucks dropped 3 percent, and is facing growing competition both from other fast food retailers selling coffee but smaller high-end coffee chains.

The American Consumer Satisfaction Index is based on a survey of 70,000 customers across the United States.